“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” – Miriam Adeney

Ever since we were kids we went up to Northern Michigan and visited family and stayed on Pickerel Lake. Once we moved to Texas this tradition died out a little bit but was reignited when my older sister and her then boyfriend started going again with my dad. Soon after we jumped into the tradition again and have been going and renting a cabin on Pickerel Lake right down the street from my Uncle’s cabin who is now occupied by my cousin Kim. So for the last 10 or so years we have been renting this same cabin. Fortunately, this summer my dad was able to purchase the cabin and we will continue the tradition of “summering” in Northern Michigan. We found out about the purchase on the 5th of July last year and immediately started making plans to visit in the fall as well.

Over the fourth of July, the cabin is usually filled with tons of friends and family who came into town for the fourth. It is amazing that everyone is able to get away from their busy lives and take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather and sights of Pickerel Lake. Our time up there is typically dedicated to grilling and enjoying about 100 summer shandy’s while we sit by the lake and laugh. We gather at my cousin Kim’s fire pit in the evenings a lot for s’mores and chatter until we can no longer keep our eyes open. The sun sets around 11 pm in the summer so after a full day we collapse into bed with all of our energy drained. The mornings are filled with fishing on the pontoon while some stay back and enjoy the sunrise with coffee. Needless to say, this is the week I look forward to all year long. I hope this is a tradition that continues my whole life. Here are some pics from the week of the fourth.

Here is an overload of pictures. Some from fishing, some sunsets, the Alanson parade, boating, the fourth of July, fire pit nights, and more.

After my dad purchased the cabin, we made immediate plans to come back and visit. We were able to set a trip up for October. It was a short trip but it felt so good to be there in the fall. We helped my dad do some work with the cabin but also managed to have fun too. We went to Beards Brewery in downtown Petoskey and also the Apple Festival over in Charlevoix. It is absolutely beautiful in the fall with all of the colors and the leaves changing.

Thanks for reading! Until the next post! 🙂

“Travel while you’re young and able. Don’t worry about the money, just make it work. Experience is far more valuable than money will ever be.” – David Avocado Wolfe

Sometime last spring my friends and I decided to take a trip somewhere. We settled on Puerto Vallarta and began planning. I’ve been to a lot of places in Mexico and Puerto Vallarta is by far one of my favorites. There is so much culture in this city. We stayed at the Westin near the Marina district. Our hotel was right on the beach but we were right down the street from the Marina so we typically wandered over there for breakfast and to head out on the town at night.

We ate breakfast a few times at this little adorable diner called Mr. Cream Pancakes and Waffle House. It was so yummy and the wait staff was so friendly and welcoming. Not like in America, where you are inconveniencing them by dining there.

The pictures above were from our first morning there but we did visit a few different times. Another restaurant we went to a few times was Pepe’s Tacos in the Marina area but it appears to be closed at this point. It looks like there is one farther south. If you are staying near the other Pepe’s, I would recommend it! We also went to the El Faro lighthouse bar after a full day at the pool and from what I remember it was also pretty legit. The last notable food and beverage place we visited on the trip was the Beer Box. It was a more modern American type bar. They had a great selection of beers and of course and amazing wait staff. Check out some pictures below!

The majority of our time was spent at the pool and beach area. The beaches are very different than the other side of Mexico. The sand is a little more rough and water not quite as blue compared to the Cancun side of Mexico. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED Puerto Vallarta and had an amazing time but the beaches are not the best beaches I’ve been to. Anyways, we had drinks, relaxed, met some cool people, and even got into some volleyball games.

The big adventure we did while visiting was taking a boat over to a private island, Las Caletas where we had an amazing dinner by the water and watched the sunset. After dinner there was a show at an amphitheater in the middle of the rain forest and it was actually pretty amazing. Between dinner and the show, there was a little time to relax and explore the island. The island had a ton of paths that wandered through the rain forest but the best part was the hundreds of hammocks near the shoreline. It was beautiful. The highlight of my trip may have been before we boarded the boat to head to the island we even made friends with a sea lion. The adventure was called Rhythm of the nights and it was a great time overall.

This trip actually took place almost a year ago so I am still in the process of catching up! I cherish these trips so much and I love looking back at pictures and reliving these trips. I hope you enjoyed if you made it through the post and next post coming soon! I promise!

Hi Friends and Family!

I started this blog awhile ago but I have had a hard time keeping up with it. One of my New Years resolutions was to keep this and all my readers updated. I also do not want the last year to go by without posting about it because it was a pretty great year. I had lots of travels, fun, and adventures. Some alone, some with friends and family, and of course with A.J.

Biggest adventure of last year…

I randomly met an amazing lady in San Antonio one weekend on one of our travels which led me to a crazy great opportunity. Some of you may know but I received a job offer in July as a Regional Sales Manager for a pet food company called Weruva. I did not know much about the company when I started, other than what I had read and my new friend had told me about. Needless to say, I really got lucky. It is an amazing company and such a great opportunity! I have a need to do more all the time mentality and this job gives me exactly that. I cover 4 states and get to travel for work. I mean, perfect, right! I point this out because I have worked very hard in my life and my career to get me to this point and however cheesy this sounds, I am proud of myself! Woah, right? More people should say this to themselves! This job is out of my comfort zone and is pushing my limits and I love that.
Every. Single. Day.

“If you’re too comfortable. It’s time to move on. Terrified of what’s next? You’re on the right track.”  – Susan Fales-Hill

My new job has brought me all over the country in the last 6 months and that is partly the reason I have been slacking on this blogging adventure I set out on last year. I do this mainly for myself so I can see where I’ve been and what I’ve done in my life. I hope if you’re reading this, you are also enjoying and searching for more. Here are a few pics from some of the places I have gotten to visit for work.

’til the next post!

First of all, if you visit Nashville… make sure you have enough ibuprofen with you because you are going to need it. Beer and apple pie moonshine shots flow like water and are very delicious. We decided to visit Nashville so we could attend the Thistle Farms 20th anniversary fundraiser because Reba, John Prine, and Jason Isbell (along with some other fantastic artists) were performing and those are some of our favorites!

When we started looking at hotels for the trip, they were outrageous (I think it had to do with the Kentucky Derby being that weekend). They were double what my sister had paid when she was there a month or so before. So we decided to stay at the Downtown Nashville Hostel. My mom of course freaked out because of all the movies like “Hostel” and “Taken.” I have never stayed at a hostel but this one was awesome! We had a private room that had a kitchen and an en suite bathroom. Our room had a view of the Titans stadium across from the Cumberland River and it all had a modern and funky feel which we loved.

The first day we got into town we set out to explore! We started off with a drink on the rooftop bar of  The Valentine. It was early in the day so the rooftop was slow but had a very chill but exciting atmosphere. This place is probably insane at night! After The Valentine we scooted on over to have lunch at The Broadway Brewhouse. They had pretty much any type of food you could want and was pretty good. They also had a wide selection of beers on tap which I always enjoy. After filling up on a few beers and food we headed back to the Hostel to get ready for the show. The Thistle Farms anniversary fundraiser was so much fun and unlike anything I had ever been to. The Thistle Farms is a non profit organization that helps women who have survived prostitution, human trafficking, and other horrible tragedies. They help inspire women to create items that they are able to sell to support themselves. Things like soaps, hand lotions, jewelry, and much more. A lot of the women spoke of how they ended up at Thistle Farms and it was heartbreaking but very inspiring. Here are a few pics from the night.

After the concert we went out to a few places near the Hostel. We spent most of the night at Benchmark Nashville bar and grill listening to live music and taking Apple Moonshine Shots. Which are delish but lethal.

The next day we had a fun filled day which I will condense to a quick paragraph and pictures. We went to Acme Feed which was really fun and yummy. We had good food and a couple of beers to get the day started. After Acme Feed, the next stop was The Country Music Hall of Fame. This was aight… I would say you could go once to check it out but I wouldn’t visit twice. Lots of history at the museum and for how much I love country music, I am not a history buff. I’d rather be having a cold one and listening to it live. With that being said, our next stop was Tootsies! Which is a must. We ate some very good bar food (which is my personal favorite). Had some beers and listened to some music. We had reservations for a tour of the Ryman Auditorium after this so we hurried over and started the tour. The tour itself was decent but it was pretty neat to see where people like REBA had gotten ready just the night before. After the Ryman, we went to dinner and some more bars on Broadway, and to be honest, the night got fuzzy after that. I hope you enjoy the pics!